Penn National buys Rosecroft Raceway

A Pennsylvania-based gaming company has beat out the owner of the Orioles and a Bethesda-based developer to take over the bankrupt harness racing track in southern Prince George's County.

Penn National beat out Orioles owner Peter Angelos and developer and Democratic fundraiser Nathan Landow by offering $10.2 million for Rosecroft Raceway. Officials with Penn National said in a statement that they hope to bring slots to the site, something that many local residents say worries them.

Five other sites in Maryland have been authorized for slots in the state, but have been slow in getting underway. An amendment to the Maryland Constitution would be needed to bring slots to Rosecroft.

The three-hour auction for Rosecroft was conducted by Michael Lichtenstein, a Rockville attorney who is counsel to the bankruptcy trustee overseeing the sale of Rosecroft assets. The track went bankrupt two years ago.

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.